The two herpes simplex viruses, HSV-1 and HSV-2 are common human pathogens which generally produce mild and self-limiting diseases such as pharyngitis and recurrent oral lesions e.g. "cold sores". However, under certain circumstances HSV viruses may also produce more serious and even life-threatening infections. The most frequent of these serious diseases are: (1) ocular infections, which may lead to blindness; and (2) serious/potentially fatal infections in immunocompromised individuals such as AIDS patients, cancer patients, transplant recipients, and some newborn infants.
Numerous glycoproteins which are antigenic have been identified on the virion envelope and include those designated gA/B, gC, gD, gE, gG and gH. At least one, gD, appears common to both HSV-1 and HSV-2. Monoclonal antibodies, many of them murine, have been made which are specific to various of these glycoproteins. See, for example, Balachandran, et al., 1982, Infection and Immunity vol. 37 (3): 1132-1137; Rector, et al., 1982, Infection and Immunity vol. 38 (1): 168-174; and Dix, et al., 1981, Infection and Immunity vol. 34 (1): 192-199.
There are a few reports in the literature of human antibodies against HSV. For instance, Erlich, et al., 1986, Review of Infections Diseases vol. 8 (Supp. 4): S439-S445 discusses human immunoglobulin G which shows activity against HSV. Seigneurin, et al., 1983, Science vol. 221: 173-175 discloses a human monoclonal antibody which binds to glycoprotein gD, and can neutralize, albeit at varying potencies both HSV-1 and HSV-2. This cell line was obtained from Epstein-Barr virus infected bone marrow.